“Assessment Meeting on Measures and Practices to Fight against Pandemic
for 2021-2022 Academic Year” Takes Place in Istanbul
September 21, 2021 / Istanbul
CoHE President Erol Özvar met with the rectors of the state and foundation
universities located in Istanbul at the
“Assessment Meeting on the Measures and Practices to Fight against
Pandemic for the 2021-2022 Academic Year”
.
The meeting was organized by the Governorship of Istanbul. Ali Yerlikaya,
Governor of Istanbul, Prof. Erol Özvar, President of the Council of Higher
Education (CoHE), Sinan Aksu, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Recep
Ali Er, Director General of Student Loans and Dormitories, and the
administrators of 11 state universities, 44 foundation universities and
three vocational schools attended the meeting.
They discussed all issues related to the measures to be taken for the fight
against the COVID-19 pandemic in higher education in the new academic year.
Istanbul Governor Ali Yerlikaya spoke at the opening of the meeting and
said, “We have been making full use of the technological opportunities and
hybrid learning models in education. However, in-person learning is not
just a spatial issue. Schools and universities are places where culture,
art and sports activities are carried out where common working cultures
develop. They are essential for socialization and communication. In
addition, in-person learning is a model that directly affects communication
and learning processes, and pedagogical development.” He also touched on
the fact that they could benefit from vaccination, which is a powerful tool
to fight against COVID-19 this year, compared to the previous year and
added, “As of today, the vaccination rate is 83.4 percent. The first dose
vaccination rate between the ages of 15 and 18 reached 49.5 percent in a
short time. In other words, one out of two young people got vaccinated.”
- "The health of university staff and students comes first"
Following Governor Yerlikaya’s speech, CoHE President Erol Özvar made a
speech. He noted that Istanbul was home to almost 30 percent of higher
education institutions and that the universities in the province had 23
percent of all formal higher education students and hosted approximately 50
percent of all academic staff.
President Özvar stated that in-person learning was the priority for higher
education institutions and said, “Our students will start their education
on campuses and in classes. Along with in-person learning, we will also use
online applications effectively in higher education according to the
regional and local course of the pandemic. After three semesters, students
will continue their education on university campuses through face-to-face
teaching methods as well as other teaching methods.
Özvar stated that CoHE and universities had used every means possible for
the continuity of education, adding that classrooms, canteens, libraries
and other social gathering places were made ready for education after
renovation and that university administrations made risk assessments and
programs according to their student numbers and infrastructures.
- "Our guidelines, which include the framework decisions of CoHE, are
'guiding' university administrations in the practices regarding the
pandemic"
Özvar said that CoHE prepared two separate guidelines on the measures to be taken on university campuses and the issues
to be considered in the educational processes within the
scope of combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall term of the 2021-2022
academic year and that the guidelines were prepared in consultation with
university administrations and with the support of the Health Science
Committee. "These guidelines, which include the framework decisions of the
Council of Higher Education, are 'guiding' university administrations in
the practices regarding the pandemic. The university administrations also
prepared some guides on the COVID-19 pandemic, education, and campuses, and
shared them with their stakeholders. Considering that the pandemic is a
dynamic process, Turkish universities made flexible decisions by making
different plans according to the regional and local course of the pandemic,
by means of their relevant committees,” he said.
- “It is of utmost importance for academic and administrative staff and
students to get vaccinated”
CoHE President Erol Özvar reiterated that in-person courses started to be
offered in higher education and said, “The health of all university
employees and students comes first during this period. The responsibility
in this matter falls not only on the administrators, but on all of us. As
administrators are responsible for taking the required measures, we are
obligated to comply with the measures as the stakeholders of higher
education. In this context, it is of utmost importance for academic and
administrative staff and students to get vaccinated for public health. I
request all our stakeholders to get fully vaccinated before the classes
start to support their universities.”
- “88.56% of the academic staff have had their second dose as of today”
Özvar also talked about the vaccination at universities for the first time
and said, “88.56% of the academic staff in our higher
education system have had their second dose as of today. We want to
increase this rate to 100% before the new academic year starts. I want to
say that these vaccination rates support our determination for in-person
learning for the 2021-2022 academic year. Hopefully, the students, like the
academic staff, will also fulfill the condition of vaccination for
in-person learning by getting fully vaccinated before the academic year
starts.”
- “Implementing all the methods during the pandemic is essential for
the continuity of education”
Özvar said that the measures to be taken for COVID-19 in classrooms and
halls were presented in the “Implementation Guide for Campuses” and listed
them as follows: Complying with hygiene, mask and distance rules, airing
out classrooms as much as possible, cleaning common areas periodically,
carrying out social activities outdoors as much as possible, planning the
capacities of classrooms, avoiding crowded study groups, and avoiding block
courses by limiting course hours.
- “Applied courses should be offered in accordance with the measures”
Özvar stated that Turkish universities gained experience by expanding the
distance education method they had used before the COVID-19 pandemic to all
programs during the pandemic and said, “With this experience, they will be
able to teach a certain proportion of the courses they deem necessary
through this method in the new academic year. The academic staff will teach
most of the courses in classes. On the other hand, they will be able to
teach some theoretical courses online at the same time, which we call
synchronous teaching. The universities will also be able to use
applications that pave the way for asynchronous learning. Thus, in addition
to in-person learning, courses will also be conducted in a diversified way
through distance education methods such as online, synchronous and
asynchronous learning. Implementing all these methods during the pandemic
is essential for the continuity of education. Applied training courses,
internships and vocational training should also continue to be carried out
in accordance with the precautions.”
- "Vision for Quality " in courses to be offered face-to-face during
the pandemic
At the end of his speech, CoHE President Özvar reminded that educational
activities should be carried out without compromising on quality in higher
education and said, “One of the most important missions of all Turkish
higher education institutions when transitioning to in-person learning
during the pandemic would be to follow the educational processes without
compromising on quality, in other words, with a vision for quality. Turkish
universities should be determined to implement quality assurance policies
in education, such as clearly defining the content and outputs of programs
and courses, pre-announcing classroom and extracurricular activities for
the pandemic, sharing course proficiency criteria with students, and
supporting learning processes with enriched materials. In any case, we have
to care about quality, because the competent new generations who grow up
through quality education on a global scale will carry our country to a
bright future.”
Click here to read the full transcript of the speech made by CoHE President
Prof. Erol Özvar. (in Turkish)